


Elegant and Cruel

by BeesKnees



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Angst, Community: norsekink, M/M, Pseudo-Incest, Silence Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-31
Updated: 2012-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-06 09:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/417216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeesKnees/pseuds/BeesKnees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor is the one to put the mask on Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elegant and Cruel

Once Loki is captured and they have a plan, he ceases to be the Avengers' problem. He is now Thor's problem, his responsibility. 

They bind Loki in chains and do nothing to heal the bruises and cuts he sustained during the battle. They put him in another cage. They put guards around him. They do anything they can to negate his threat and yet, the Avengers, in the short time they've faced his brother, know that he is still a threat.

They don't plan this part out loud. They don't give voice to this plan.

Tony simply calls Thor down to his lab, and he presses the metal in Thor's hand, and then walks away. There's no rambling explanation of what it is Tony has made and, in the end, Thor knows what it is anyway. 

It is a muzzle, a mask, another binding. It will shut Loki away, and silence his silver tongue – his most dangerous weapon. 

The metal is cool in Thor's hand at first and he stares at it; the muzzle is frighteningly elegant and cruel at the same time. Some part of him thinks that Loki will truly never forgive him now. If there was anyway to turn back, this might be the end of it. He knows what silence does to his brother. 

And still he walks, his steps slow, into the gilded cage they've concocted around his brother. He understands he has no choice. He likes to believe that he fights on the side of justice, but, as he's grown older, he understands there's no such simplicity. He wants to save his brother. But in order to do so, he must do things that are unspeakable. And he must pretend that they are clearly the right thing to do.

The door slides open in front of him. Loki looks up at him and he smiles almost instantly. He shows his teeth and the curve of his lips is feral. It seems to accent the dark circles under his eyes, and Thor is cowed for a moment. He doesn't understand how they've come to this; it seems as if they were just waiting together before his coronation. How has everything spiraled so quickly out of control.

Loki shifts where he's sitting, and the chains he's in clank loudly.

“Brother mine,” Loki says sharply, and Thor suddenly can't stand to hear whatever he's going to say next. He crosses the room quickly, and is abruptly standing in front of Loki. Their legs bump together, and, surprisingly, Loki says nothing. He continues to smile, looking up at Thor expectantly.

Thor raises one hand slowly, and presses it against the side of Loki's neck. He presses his thumb gently underneath Loki's chin, tilting his face upward. His other fingers unfurl against the side of Loki's neck, able to feel his lightning-fast pulse beating underneath his touch.

“Brother mine,” Thor whispers quietly in reply. He leans down and lets his lips touch against Loki's, the motion soft and tender. It is archaic, a gesture of a time they've both forgotten. But Thor longs for those moments any how, and he needs the touch to steady him. It doesn't matter that Loki doesn't react, that he can feel the smile melting off his brother's face. It doesn't matter that he's cold and untouchable, and has somehow become an utter stranger to Thor.

He can't remember the last time they kissed and so even if this moment must be it, at least he'll have a memory of it.

He pulls away just a hair, and in that instant slides the mask over Loki's face. He clicks it into place, and still Loki merely looks up at him. He can see the flex of Loki's jaw underneath the silver. 

His brother's gaze is accusing. Cruel and elegant.


End file.
